The Crusades
Background to the Crusades There will always be debate of the reasons for the crusades, but most historians currently agree that the greatest reason for their creation was the threat of the Turks on the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire, which was the direct successor of the Eastern Roman Empire, had been fighting the spread of Muslim armies of either Turkish or Saracen (Syrian/Egyptian) origin for hundreds of years, to varying degrees of success. The Battle of Manzikert in 1071 in Anatolia between the Turkish armies and those of the Byzantine Empire resulted in a catastrophic loss for the latter empire. The continued ill fortune of the Byzantine Empire in the following years, as a result of the battle, set into motion the eventual calling of a holy war against the "pagan" or "heretical" Muslims by Pope Urban II in 1095. The First Crusade is, along with the Third Crusade, the most famous of the numerous crusades. The First Crusade was also the only crusade to succeed in all its goals, and extraordinary in being able to do so. This crusade started in 1095 and ended in 1099 with the fall of Jerusalem to Christian armies. This crusade also saw the establishment of the four main crusader kingdoms: Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, and Jerusalem (in order of creation). The Second Crusade was called in response to the fall of Edessa and resulted in defeat and humiliation outside the walls of Damascus in 1149. The Third Crusade was called after the fall of Jerusalem to Salahudin. This crusade included the three most powerful monarchs in all of Europe: Frederick I (Barbarossa) of the Holy Roman Empire, Philip of France, and King Richard the Lionhearted of England. Frederick was killed while swimming in a Anatolian river, but the other two monarchs and their armies made it to the Holy Land, where they conquered many cities along the coast and established their capital at Acre. Their ultimate goal of conquering Jerusalem was not realized. The Fourth Crusade was a failure that resulted in the sack of Constantinople by marooned European crusader armies in 1204. The Fifth Crusade took place between 1213 and 1221 with the original intent of reconquering Jerusalem. However, the political situation in Egypt lured the armies to that country where, after a long siege, they captured the city of Daimetta in the Nile Delta. After a long pause, the armies marched south toward Cairo. After supplies began running low, the crusaders began withdrawing but were set upon by the Egyptian armies and forced to surrender. The Sixth Crusade consisted of very little fighting but much political maneuvering by Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire, who was successful in obtaining Jerusalem through negotiations with Muslim rulers who were suffering from an unstable political situation. An interesting fact of this crusade was that Frederick II was excommunicated throughout his entire involvement in it (due to taking so long to eventually start on his crusade). The Seventh Crusade took place between 1248 and 1254, after Jerusalem had been lost yet again. However, just like the Fifth Crusade, the Christian armies marched on Egypt and took Daimetta, though in much less time. However, on the march south toward Cairo the crusaders, after one victory, were ambushed and destroyed along the Nile river. The Eighth Crusade took place in 1270, landing at Tunis in North Africa as a staging point for Egypt. Its leader (who was also leader of the Seventh Crusade), Saint Louis IX, King of France, died of disease, which essentially dissolved the expedition. The Ninth Crusade is often not considered a crusade, but entails the expedition of Edward I Longshanks of England in the Holy Land. It was a reactionary expedition to assist in the misfortunes of the Kingdom of Acre at the hands of the powerful Mameluk leader, Baibars In addition to these numbered crusades of the Holy Land, there were also several other crusades in other regions of Europe or of different characteristics. In Prussia and in Spain there were "perpetual crusades" against the pagan Baltic tribes and Muslim Almohads respectively. These crusades lasted from roughly 1220-1390 in the Baltic and in Spain from 1100's until 1492, with the fall of Grenada to Ferdinand and Isabella. The unnumbered crusades to the Holy Land generally were spontaneous expeditions not called for by the Pope and varied greatly in size. Some were quite odd, such as the Children's Crusade that involved young children preaching to other children to walk on Jerusalem and take it back with their innocence. Instead, many died in the trek over the alps and, as far as can be told, most of the rest being sold to slavery by unscrupulous Italian merchants. Literature on the Crusades 1) A History of the Crusades: The First Crusade Author: Steven Runciman Illustrator: N/A Publisher: Cambridge University Press Year: 1951 Length: 316 Pages Description: Undestanding the intricacies of the crusades is a challenge, but reading the three books comprising "A History of the Crusades" are probably the best way to be able to. These books by Steven Runciman are scholarly in every sense of the word. However, this particular volume excels in its ability to provide an explanation of the climate and background leading up to the First Crusade. Many books tend to be ambiguous or simply gloss over the setup and simply start in ernest at the calling of the First Crusade in 1095, but this book provides the information why it came about and in a thorough manner. Another aspect of this book that sets it apart from the other two in the series is the way the description of the First Crusade itself reads like a novel. Runciman pulls together the list of characters in an engrossing way and keeps the reader's attention. Nevertheless, this book is a thorough account of the topic and should only be read by those interested and determined enough to read it cover to cover. 2) A History of the Crusades: The Kingdom of Jerusalem Author: Steven Runciman Illustrator: N/A Publisher: Cambridge University Press Year: 1952 Length: 428 Pages Description: This volume in the series deals with what is essentially the "golden age" of the crusader states. Within a generation of the first crusaders taking Jerusalem, the crusaders conquered much of modern day Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and even parts of Jordan. It was the pinnacle of their power and influence. It was also when the crusading movement was met with the most enthusiasm. However, the reasons for the kingdom's ultimate failure is discussed in this volume along with excellent descriptions of the politics, military campaigns, people, lifestyles, and just about everything else to do with these crusader kingdoms. The volume ends shortly after the fall of Jerusalem in 1187 and before the start of the Third Crusade One of the best parts of Steven Runciman's works are their ability to provide ample and even excessive detail without having the reader get lost in the big picture. Everything has reason and consequence, both of which are well stated in the series. Once again, an excellent read for the enthusiasts. 3) A History of the Crusades: The Kingdom of Acre Author: Steven Runciman Illustrator: N/A Publisher: Cambridge University Press Year: 1954 Length: 448 Pages Description: This volume deals with the period from the start of the Third Crusade until the ultimate fall of the crusader capital of Acre almost exactly a hundred years later in 1291. Like the previous volume, this volume describes every aspect of the politics, military campaigns, lifestyles, etc, in the Kingdom of Acre. It is also similar in that, although the title is of the southern crusader kingdom of Acre/Jerusalem, it discusses thoroughly the other crusader regions like Antioch, Tripoli, or even Armenia (which wasn't a "crusader" kingdom, but was an allied Christian kingdom). The biggest challenge with this book is the multitude of names and their relationships to one another. Since it covers a period of a hundred years, there are countless lords being spoken of often in the space of a couple pages and seemingly given the same name (it is astounding how many Henry's and Richard's there were). Nevertheless, all the information is there and can be read, and reread if necessary, to understand exactly what is transpiring. It should be mentioned that this critique is not reflective of the book but of the difficulty covering the material, as the kingdom was often in utter chaos itself. Steven Runciman is to be highly commended for this spectacular series. 4) The Crusades: A History Author: Jonathan Riley-Smith Illustrator: N/A Publisher: Yale University Press Year: 1987 Length: 353 Pages Description: At the length of 353 pages but covering the same material as Runciman's series of over a thousand pages, this book is much more palatable to the average reader. However, it must be pointed out that this is still a scholarly book that the casual reader probably should not take on or at the most be the extreme in detail for them to read. The book is an excellent read and certainly worth the time to do so, provided that one has not already read Steven Runciman's books. To read this after reading Runciman's would seem redundant and not worth the time, but on the other hand if one read this book and still felt they wanted to know more on the topic, it would then be time to pick up Runciman's series. It should also be noted that, unlike Steven Runciman's books which focuses solely on the Holy Land, this book also deals with the crusades in the Baltic and Spain. 5) The Samogitian Crusade Author: William Urban Illustrator: N/A Publisher: Lithuanian Research and Studies Center, 5600 South Claremont Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60636-1039, USA Year: 1989 Length: 227 Pages Description: This book was actually pointed out to me by the author himself, after having been in correspondence following reading another of his works The Teutonic Knights: A Military History. William Urban's works strike a nice balance between being interesting to scholars yet still accessible to the average reader. This particular work is about the Samogitian Crusade, which as the name of the publisher suggests, took place in what is now Lithuania. What is now called the Samogitian Crusade was a protracted series of conflicts between the Teutonic Knights based in Prussia and Livonia, and the pagan tribes living in the forests between these two territories. The time of the crusade was roughly the entire 14th century until the pagan Lithuanians converted to Catholicism at the very end of that century. This time period was also when the Teutonic Knights reached the height of power and influence in the region, and indeed in Europe as a whole. Generally speaking, this crusade is often neglected in favor of those in Prussia of the previous century let alone those taking place in the Holy Land. It is an essential read for anyone interested in looking at the entire crusading movement. 6) The Crusades: An Illustrated History ''' Author: James Harpur Illustrator: N/A Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press Year: 2005 Length: 122 Pages Description: Although not a scholarly book like the previous titles, this book is very good for the casual or younger reader that has a budding interest in the crusades. America is known for its penchant of illustrated books to the point where many shouldn't be called a book but instead a photo album, but this book is not in such ranks. Despite its heavy gloss and numerous photographs or paintings, the book does give a good, but very general, overview of the crusades. Overall it is reliable in its information and is a nice casual read. 7) '''Lake Peipus 1242: Battle of the Ice Author: David Nicolle Illustrator: Angus McBride Publisher: Osprey Publishing, Midland House, West Way, Botler, Oxford OX2 0PH, UK Year: 1996 Length: 96 Pages Description: The Campaign series of books produced by Osprey are definitely one of their stronger pieces. The book has sections about the background to the battle, the commanders of each side, the armies of each side, battle itself, the consequences, and is ample in maps, photographs, and illustrations. This particular book is regarding the Battle of Lake Peipus, a battle that, as the title suggests, did not take place in the Holy Land but in the frigid Baltic. This battle was fought between the combined crusaders from Denmark, Livonia, Germany, and most famously the Teutonic Knights and their opponents predominantly from the Rus'ian city of Novgorod. The battle had relatively minor consequences, but became, perhaps undeservingly, famous due to the political situation shortly before World War II between Russia and Germany. The famous film maker made a masterpiece called "Alexander Nevskii", who was the Rus'ian leader of Novgorod at this time and the film features the noble peasant Russian farmers defeating the powerful and cruel Aryan German Teutonic Knights. The reality of the battle and settings are much more accurately displayed in this book, though the same result of a crusader loss is shown. This book is also quite useful for anyone who has an interest in visiting the battle site today. 8) Acre 1291: Bloody Sunset of the Crusader States Author: David Nicolle Illustrator: Graham Turner Publisher: Osprey Publishing, Midland House, West Way, Botler, Oxford OX2 0PH, UK Year: 2005 Length: 96 Pages Description: One of the better aspect of these Osprey Campaign books is that they provide a very good "zoom in" for some battles. Sometimes reading pure text on a battle, regardless of how thorough it is, just can not make everything clear to the reader (a classic case of a picture being worth 1000 words). This book helps clarify much of the background and events that unfolded during the closing chapter of the crusader states in the Holy Land. Acre was the capital of the crusader state successor to the Kingdom of Jerusalem following the city's capture during the Third Crusade. Even when Jerusalem was received by treaty for a period of time, it was felt both more logical and safe to retain the government in the coastal city of Acre. The siege of Acre itself was a ferocious battle between the Mameluks of Egypt and Syria against the combined forces of all the remaining crusaders in the east (be they from the military orders, France, Italy, Germany, etc). This book does a very good job keeping the reader interested in the material and is very easy to get through. It also can be useful to those who wish to visit the site of the city today in Israel (it is now called Akko). 9) Tannenberg 1410: Disaster for the Teutonic Knights Author: Stephen Turnbull Illustrator: Richard Hook Publisher: Osprey Publishing, Midland House, West Way, Botler, Oxford OX2 0PH, UK Year: 2003 Length: 96 Pages Description: As the title suggests, this book is about the worst catastrophe to beset the Teutonic Knights in their centuries long history. The Battle of Tannenberg (which goes by two other names depending on your nationality) was fought between the Teutonic Knights and their western European guest crusaders against their fellow christian Poles and Lithuanians! Obviously due to politics instead of religion, this battle was one of the largest fought in the Middle Ages and resulted in heavy losses on both sides. Nevertheless, it was the Teutonic Knights who had their leadership and much of their military might annihilated in a single day's battle. Although it did not result in their destruction (despite the continued efforts of both Poland and Lithuania), the Teutonic Knights never recovered from this loss. The book is well done, understandible, and also a good travel guide.